Study Gives Traffic Court A Clean Bill

October 15, 1987|By Joseph R. Tybor, Legal affairs writer.

The chairman of a special task force created in the aftermath of the Operation Greylord investigation declared Wednesday that Traffic Court, the scene of wanton corruption in past years, has been cleaned up.

Attorney Don H. Reuben, chairman of the study team, said the impact of the Greylord convictions, as well as increased vigilance and reforms instituted by the new Supervising Traffic Court Judge Thomas R. Fitzgerald, have greatly lessened the opportunities for improper ``hustling`` of clients by lawyers and for lawyers and judges to exchange bribes.

``Justice is being dispensed there on a daily basis, and we can find no evidence of corruption or misconduct,`` Reuben said at a news conference.

Reuben is chairman of a Traffic Court task force of the Special Commission on the Administration of Justice in Cook County, which is headed by Chicago lawyer Jerold Solovy.

He tempered his assessment by saying that the high volume of cases heard in Traffic Court, together with the inadequate numbers of court personnel and facilities, could again breed corruption.

That branch of the Cook County Circuit Court, the only place where most citizens come in contact with the judicial system, has often been scarred by scandals that mar the public`s perception of the courts in general.

Its former presiding judge, Richard F. LeFevour, and another judge who sat there, John H. McCollom, are among the Greylord judges who have been convicted of bribetaking.

Before McCollom pleaded guilty midway through his trial last spring, a dozen lawyers and police officers described the activities of attorneys they called ``miracle workers,`` who paid hundreds of bribes.

One lawyer, Bruce Campbell, testified at McCollom`s trial that giving bribes in Traffic Court was ``kind of like brushing your teeth. I did it every day.``

The task force on Wednesday renewed a recommendation it made in January, 1985, that parking tickets be removed from the Traffic Court and be handled administratively.

Reuben pointed out that there is a backlog of 34 million parking tickets, with 3 million to 4 million entering the system each year.

The current method of handling these tickets is a ``total joke and disaster,`` Reuben said, because there is not a workable enforcement system. Virtually anyone who challenges a parking ticket is successful, and it is not unusual for the city`s law department to offer a ``reduced rate`` discount of $10 or less to clear the tickets without going through a judicial hearing.

Based on the task force`s earlier recommendation, legislation was enacted in the General Assembly last spring that would have turned over the job of administering parking tickets and collecting fines to the city, aided by the Illinois Secretary of State`s office.

Gov. James R. Thompson vetoed the bill, however, ostensibly for financial reasons. But Mayor Harold Washington and his staff said the veto was part of a political tussle between Washington and Thompson over control of the new White Sox stadium authority and the revamped McCormick Place Board.

The task force recommended that, notwithstanding Thompson`s veto, the Washington administration should complete a proposal for an administrative system of handling parking tickets and use its home-rule powers to enact a detailed ordinance to implement it in the City Council.

Corporation Counsel Judson Miner said the administration is already working on attempts to override Thompson`s veto, and that his staff is studying whether the city has the authority to enact such an ordinance if the override fails.

Reuben contends that the revenue from a more efficient way of collecting parking fines would more than offset the cost of building a new courthouse facility and hiring more judges and staff.

He said the current courthouse facility, a former warehouse at 321 N. LaSalle St., makes judges feel they are sitting in ``sardine cans.``